Page 9 of Save Her Life (Sandra Vos #1)
EIGHT
“Meet Vern Wilcox, customer,” Patrick said, passing Sandra his background. “His car’s the Audi.”
She read down the report. Sixty-one, resident of Woodbridge, single. The picture attached to the background showed a man with silver-streaked black hair and of serious expression. He looked the image of a powerful businessman.
“Just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Patrick lamented.
No one added to that, and they proceeded to listen to a playback of the last conversation. What struck Sandra was one of the last things Gavin had said. “‘I just want to take the meds and leave,’” she reiterated and added, “This could be interpreted as he has the meds in hand now. In the least, he wants this over with. Is that desire selfishly motivated or does he need to get the meds to someone?”
“Patrick,” Garrison, the team leader said, “follow up with the FBI on the pharmacy system. Find out what’s taking so long.”
“Will do.” Patrick put his phone to an ear.
Sandra only half-listened as he spoke to Simon. She was sipping coffee and watching the video monitor and debating whether to try calling Gavin again when the front door of the store opened.
An injured man stumbled out. From what she could tell, it was Vern Wilcox.
“Hallelujah!” Richie said.
“Now, that is terrific progress,” Garrison said.
She kept her thoughts to herself. It was a step in the right direction, but she wasn’t letting her guard down yet. Really the party was just getting started. Gavin had relinquished a hostage without securing something in return. Was this a sign he planned to take her up on her offer and surrender?
Armed SWAT officers moved in to secure the man and get him to an ambulance out of the line of fire.
Patrick wrapped up his call and shot out the door of the command vehicle. As the intelligence officer, his job included gathering information. And Vern Wilcox would be a golden resource as the first person to come out of the store.
She watched on the screen as Patrick walked to the man, who was now seated on a gurney at the back of an ambulance. As she observed the interaction between Patrick and Vern, and an irritated paramedic, thoughts of her brother rolled in again. At least Vern was getting the help he needed. Hopefully, his injuries weren’t serious.
When Patrick returned several minutes later, she was fast to question him. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He has a concussion,” Patrick told everyone. “Guess he rushed the HT and got pistol-whipped for his troubles.”
“Did he know what kind of gun?” she asked, curious if their earlier theory held weight.
“He just described it as black and compact, so it could be the security guard’s Smith & Wesson M&P.”
“If so, it’s unlikely he’d have that without the guard putting up a fight,” Garrison said.
“There are other ways of manipulating people that aren’t physical,” Sandra countered.
“Except we can’t ignore that Gavin responded physically to Wilcox. Being turned away at the pharmacy counter probably evoked a similar immediate reaction. And we can’t overlook where we are now,” Garrison pointed out.
Sandra looked at Patrick. “Did Wilcox know if anyone else is hurt in there?”
“He didn’t.”
Sandra had been wishing for a more definitive answer. “Did you ask specifically about Megan Cobb?”
“I did and, apparently, she won’t stop sobbing, but Gavin brought out some cushions from the manager’s office to make her more comfortable. And before anyone asks, Wilcox told me everyone’s being held in the lunchroom.”
“Just as we thought,” Garrison said.
“Uh-huh. He secures the doors by putting a mop through the pull handles. He pops in and out of the room. He did collect their phones and took them with him.”
“Was he able to tell you anything about Gavin’s description that might help us ID him?” Ray asked, beating Sandra to the question.
“He says he looks to be in his twenties. He also added that he’s losing it in there. When he’s around, he’s pacing, waving his gun in the air, and making threats.”
“He’s stressed, trying to think of a way out of this,” she elaborated. “That could be a good thing. Anything else?”
Patrick shook his head. “Well, just that your colleague Simon doesn’t have a name for us yet. I just got off from him before talking to Wilcox. But apparently, he’s close to getting all the warrants in place to access the system, so it shouldn’t be long now.”
“More progress. I love to hear it,” Garrison chimed in.
“Let’s try our luck for more.” She got into position and patched through to Gavin.
He answered on the second ring and held the line in silence.
“That was a really smart decision, Gavin, letting Vern Wilcox go.”
“Is he going to be all right?”
The fact that Gavin was asking told her his conscience was working. Also that he had developed empathy for his hostages. There would be no advantage in mentioning Vern’s concussion. It would put Gavin into a tailspin and cause him to lose hope. “Yes, he’ll be fine. You did a good thing, letting Vern go for medical attention. You’re still in a terrific position to walk away from this.”
“I’d love to believe you.”
“Well, you said before that you trust me. There’s no reason for that to have changed. I haven’t lied to you, and I never will. I’m telling you the truth, Gavin,” she stressed. “I’ll see what we can do for you. Are the meds for someone else, Gavin?”
Seconds ticked off. No response.
She took that as confirmation the meds were for another person and decided to run with that assumption. It was a potential risk but one that she was comfortable taking. “I understand you’re nervous. But how about we get those meds to the person who needs them? Just tell me who they are for.”
“No. You’ll— No, that’s not happening. I tell you that, you’ll know everything about me.”
No one could say Gavin wasn’t intelligent. “But if this person needs their meds, let me help them. It’s obvious you care deeply about them.”
“She’s my whole world.”
She… It could be a significant other, but there’s only one person Sandra would describe as her whole world. Her daughter, Olivia. Was that why he empathized with Megan? He related with her and had a soft spot for children? “Are you a father, Gavin?”
More silence, but she wasn’t letting it derail her.
“Let me help you, help her .”
“Okay.”
Sandra’s shoulders relaxed. He might as well have said outright the medication was for his daughter. The position of power shifted more to her. “Does that mean you’re willing to come out? I will get the meds to her.”
“I let that man go. What else do you need?”
She didn’t take well to the fact he’d removed Vern Wilcox’s name from his statement, referencing him by a label instead. That could be a deliberate choice to distance himself. “What is your daughter’s name, Gavin?”
“I’m not telling you that, and I’m not ready to come out.”
One step forward, one back. If he wasn’t willing to surrender yet, the hostages became her top priority. “I can tell you’re a good guy who has just found himself in a tough spot, but you’re not in this alone, Gavin. And those people in there with you all have families who will be worried about them too. And Megan?—”
“She stays.”
His quick rebuttal confirmed his attachment to the pregnant woman. He’d instantly recognized her name and thankfully hadn’t reduced her to a label. But he’d also seen where she was headed with a request and nipped it. “Okay, but all those other people in there… if we could find out who they are, we could let their families know they are all right. This would go a long way with my superiors, and they’d be very willing to help you and your daughter.” She had to be careful how she put this and how she said it. The phrasing needed to be genuine and not manipulative. She intentionally didn’t say family because she didn’t know his home situation. A fractured relationship could have him feeling more like a failure and trigger him into taking further destructive action.
There was a stretch of silence.
Sandra moved ahead. “Is there someone we can contact for you? To let them know you’re okay.”
“No. It’s fine.”
So he either had an unstable home life or still feared disclosing his full identity for some reason. “All right, that’s fine. I just thought I’d offer. If you won’t let me talk to the hostages, will you please just get their names and a number for their closest family member?” This exercise would go a long way to humanizing the hostages.
Gavin didn’t say anything for a few beats. His breathing became deeper and traveled the line. “Okay. Fine, but I will need some time.” He ended the call.
Sandra sat back. She was making headway, but it wasn’t time to celebrate just yet. There was a lot she still had to find out. In the meantime, the knowledge she lacked could be detrimental.